


like the coldest winter chill/heaven beside you (hell within)

by neverwinter (KingPreussen)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Gen, Kidnapping, No Spoilers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Update: ON HOLD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-10-14 15:53:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10539681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingPreussen/pseuds/neverwinter
Summary: The most important thing about living like you were dying was not being afraid of certain death.---Involvement with the Bureau is just inviting trouble. Luckily, Taako lives for that shit.Work On Hold- chapter 3 is an authors note





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> thank you everyone for reading my other works!
> 
> ive been rolling this over in my mind for a bit and i decided to write up some and post it
> 
> this isnt finished yet, but i will try to post at least once a week until it is complete
> 
> title comes from [heaven beside you by alice in chains](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obeyFsumdYA), one of my favorite songs

Taako hated being unconscious. He always snapped awake, unused to being out of himself in that way; meditation was much smoother and didn't leave him feeling groggy and cranky like a damn toddler. It was only made worse by the intense throbbing at his temples that matched his heartbeat.

This wasn't the first time Taako woke up with a pounding headache, sore limbs, and an intense case of disorientation, and it _certainly_ wouldn't be the last. He took a deep breath and attempted to sit up, ready to take the hottest shower possible and brush his teeth for maybe five or seven hours, but the feel of rough rope at his wrists gave him pause. 

'Kinky,' Taako couldn't help but think to himself. Despite his brain's sense of humor, there was quite obviously something wrong. He couldn't open his eyes to look around, either, because there was a cloth blindfold over them. He also noticed with a sinking feeling in his stomach that nothing binding him was magical at all. Hesitantly, he cast Prestidigitation, expecting to feel the tingle of magic at his fingertips. He didn't.

"Oh, you're awake." Taako turned his head up toward the deep, neutrally accented voice, trying to keep his expression uninterested despite his fear. "You've been out for a long time."

Taako considered speaking, and then decided against it, feeling at the rope behind his back to see if he could untie it anywhere. He seemed to be bound to some metal pole, cold to the touch, but the knot to the rope wasn't within reach. There also wasn't anything else he could feel except the floor beneath him. He didn't even feel the faint hum of power his umbra staff usually gave off.

When the voice spoke again, it was much closer. Taako paused in his fumbling and leaned his head back against the pole to face it head-on. "Where are the Relics hidden?" the voice asked, getting straight to the point. Several thoughts ran through Taako's head at once: how did the voice know about the Relics? Were they a Bureau member? Why was _he_ chosen as a hostage? How much would he fuck this person up once he got free?

Apparently he took too long to answer. The person backhanded him across the face, causing his head to snap painfully to the side. Taako took a calming breath and dropped his chin a bit instead of continuing to face forward, choosing submission over defiance for now. "I'll get the answer somehow," the voice drawled. "I may have Muted magic on this room but I have other techniques."

Taako quickly filed those two facts away. His captor was some sort of spellcaster, probably a Warlock or Wizard, and once he escaped this room he would get his magic back. The second one brought a lot more relief than the first. 

"You're really as stupid as they say," the voice said, sounding almost in awe. Taako had to fight down the ironic grin that wanted to come to the surface. "That's quite alright. This'll be fun."

Even Taako's sensitive Elven ears couldn't hear any footsteps signaling the person had left the room, but the door opened and closed and he heard them say something from the other side. So he had guards as well. That made it more of a challenge, sure, but Taako wasn't that worried. The most important thing about living like you were dying was not being afraid of certain death.

He sighed, curling his legs up underneath him, and wished he was wearing something more substantial than a long pink sundress and his Cloak of the Manta Ray. At least he had some time to think of a plan in peace.


	2. The Frantic Boy Detective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Life on the fake moon was probably about as boring as life on the real moon, Angus thought with a quiet snort, flipping a page in his magical theory book. It made an impossibly soft sound that still seemed to echo in the dome covering the Seeker's libraries._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait. having a lot of Depression rn

Life on the fake moon was probably about as boring as life on the real moon, Angus thought with a quiet snort, flipping a page in his magical theory book. It made an impossibly soft sound that still seemed to echo in the dome covering the Seeker's libraries. 

Angus loved reading, he wasn't lying about that on the Rockport Limited, so one of his only refuges from the moon's monotony was the library on campus. It was always calm and quiet and well lit, and never stuffy like his grandfather's library had been. And also the Director said they would be opening a Fantasy Dave and Buster's soon, so there was that to look forward to.

Today, Killian was joining him. If it were anyone else, Angus would have assumed they was just coming to humor him, but Killian looked genuinely engrossed in some book Angus couldn't catch the title of. The letters seemed to shift and swim in front of his eyes; either he _really_ didn't know what language it was written in, or the book was _very_ magical. He tried to cast Detect Magic, just for practice, but the spell crackled and fizzed at his fingertips before shorting out.

Angus knew he couldn't let that frustrate him. He had his lessons with Taako soon and there was no way his mentor would just let him give up and move on. In one of Taako's normally long-winded and self-satisfied stories about his own adventures, he told Angus about how the spell had saved his life (probably a lie for motivation but Angus couldn't deny how star struck he was during the retelling).

Killian interrupted his thoughts by saying his name. When he finally looked up, she was gazing at him oddly, her pupils wide and dark in gold eyes. Angus had to look away again or she would probably read his mind through them. "I've been calling you, kid. Are you alright?" she asked, and the sound of concern in her voice made Angus blush.

"Yes, ma'am, I'm fine. Just thinking about a mystery." That wasn't entirely a lie; he wanted to solve the mystery of why he couldn't cast a level one spell that Taako was convinced he should be able to. Killian nodded at him and didn't push, something he appreciated about her company. She could actually read the room unlike a certain trio.

Angus glanced up at the clock that sat above wide paned windows at their end of the library, watching the minute hand tick closer and closer to the five. Taako's lessons were supposed to begin at 1:30 but if Angus was late Taako was liable to freak, and so he quickly realized it was much easier to arrive early.

He stood up, gently settled his theory text in his bag, and said, "Bye, Killian!" as he left. She waved at him without looking up from her book again.

His walk to the kitchens across the Quad was a chilly one. The moon base floated above the cloud layer, so they shouldn't experience any precipitation, theoretically. In practice, "some dumbass" (as Taako referred to them) decided it would be really cool to simulate weather on the moon to match the weather on the ground. Secretly Angus thought this was an amazing magical and technological feat but he knew not to say that in Taako's presence unless he wanted an hour's lecture.

Today it was snowing, huge flakes falling on Angus' severely underdressed head and shoulders and urging him to run the remaining length of walkway into the safety of the next dome.

Angus brushed himself off at the door, listening intently for any sort of movement in the space. It was just after normal lunch hours so he could hear some of the kitchen staff washing dishes and pots and pans farther off, but he was waiting for other, out of place sounds. The wooden floor was good for hearing the echoing of steps, especially if the subject was wearing shoes with heels.

He checked his pocket watch. 1:30 exactly, and no sign of Taako.

After a minute or so of waiting and trying not to hope Taako was late because he was bringing Angus a surprise, Angus tried to cast Detect Magic again. Taako was sneaky to a fault and he might be spying on Angus from the ethereal plane, just to see what he would do. The boy detective closed his eyes and made sure to speak the spell clearly, moving his fingers and wrist in a way he knew was much less graceful than Taako but would have to do.

He opened one eye nervously, and sighed in relief; the spell was successful, revealing a mish-mash of glowing items in his bag at his side. The lights in the dining hall also glowed twice as brightly, with magical light and the alert of his spell. But still no Taako in sight.

"Sir?" he called hesitantly, nervously. Then he straightened up, shook away the anxiety that was threatening to overwhelm him, and went to gather evidence before jumping to any conclusions.

* * *

"No, I haven't seen him," Magnus said, pausing in the middle of the animal he was carving. It only had two back legs currently, but Angus was positive it would turn out to be a dog. "But we don't usually, like, keep track of each other. Last night he went planetside and told us he would come back later today. Didn't give an exact time but I'd figured it'd be in time for your lesson."

Angus wrote all of this down in his detective's notebook with a trembling hand, frowning seriously behind his glasses. "He hasn't called you since?"

Magnus shook his head and set his woodblock and carving tool down on the table before telegraphing his ruffling of Angus' hair. Angus allowed it only because Magnus learned to be gentle with it--the first time he tried it Angus almost flinched out of his skin. "He'll show up, Djangus. Don't worry about it!"

"Of course, sir," Angus murmured. He wasn't so stuck in his own thoughts that he didn't see the worried lines around Magnus' eyes, he was just letting himself be comforted rather than arguing the point. Angus was the greatest detective on the moon and there was no case he couldn't solve… even if it boiled down to Taako having forgotten about him for an afternoon.

Merle, who was sitting on the other end of the TBH's well-loved couch diligently pretending Angus wasn't there, suddenly spoke up. "He was tellin' us about your little magic session yesterday, kid. Sounded excited to teach you. I don't think he forgot." All of this was said without Merle glancing up from his book at all, and the turning of a page marked his disengagement with the conversation.

Angus nodded and wrote this all down as well, and then, after a moment of thought, put a little star next to it as well. He figured the two of them wouldn't have much else to tell him and it would be in his best interest to go straight to the Director, but he was nervous to do it. In Neverwinter, the militia policy was to wait 24 hours until reporting a missing person. It had barely been one so far.

After a trip back to his room for a winter jacket (something Taako picked for him, so the hood was lined with faux fur, but it was warm nonetheless) Angus gave almost every building a cursory search. He checked with Avi at the launch pad, and he confirmed Taako's departure the night before.

"He looked good!" Avi added in a friendly way, ever the gossip monger. "It must have been a date or something."

Angus didn't feel the need to write that down. "Thanks, sir," he said gratefully. Avi accepted his handshake unlike Magnus but did definitely punctuate it with a hug at the end.

Only a few more hours had passed. Angus stood in the snow for a while, looking over the flat surface that led toward the round illusion covering the Quad and making it look like… well, a moon. It was quite transparent from their side and afforded a beautiful view of whichever part of Faerün they happened to be passing over. It was much too cloudy to see that far down but the top of the clouds looked pretty enough.

"Angus?"

The detective jumped a little and turned, looking up at the Director herself. She was holding her staff, the end of it planted in at least an inch of snow, looking as regal as ever in a long white woolen cloak. While he was sure the amount of snow that had amassed in his curls made him look like some kind of arctic animal, she had some kind of magical shield in place above her that kept her dry. Angus made a mental note to ask Taako if he could do that, too.

He shook some snow out of his hair. "Yes, Director?"

She gave him a level look. "Did you wish to speak with me?" she asked, no nonsense. Angus blinked, and then nodded a bit nervously. She inclined her head in the direction of the main dome and walked off, and Angus took his cute to follow her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> authors note

hey everyone

i hadnt realized that over 50 people had subscribed to this and were waiting for an update. thank you so much. the thing is, im not in a good writing space for something like this right now, and i dont want to put out something incomplete or undeveloped just to have posted it. so for all intents and purposes this work is on hold.

i am writing other stories though, so give them a read if you havent already! thank you again for supporting me

**Author's Note:**

> as i said, im excited to be sharing this with you. i have #BigFranchisePlans for the remaining two horny boys, ango, and some other bureau employees. i hope youre also looking forward to it!


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